Drawer suspension



March 9, 1954 P. VIGNOS DRAWER SUSPENSION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 29,1951 INVENTOR 1 4/11 @110:

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ATTORN EY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 P. VIGNOS DRAWER SUSPENSION March 9, 1954Filed May 29, 1951 INVENTOR Paul fig/10s Y ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 9,1954 I DRAWER SUSPENSION Paul Vignos, Canton, Ohio, assignor to RepublicSteel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of New JerseyApplication May 29, 1951, Serial No. 228,837

This invention relates to a drawer slide for a heavy or heavily loadeddrawer such as a file drawer in a desk or the drawers of a filingcabinet and the like, and more particularly pertains to a constructionwherein the sliding elements are mounted on balls for easy movement ofthe parts relative to each other.

Such a drawer slide must provide a rigid and substantial suspensionwhich will adequately support a heavily loaded drawer when the latterhas been opened, i. e. pulled out from the cabinet. The drawer slidemust, further, operate easily and should operate with a minimum ofnoise.

The invention, in addition to fulfilling the above requirements is alsoof simple, inexpensive construction, and provides means whereby thedrawer can be easily removed from the drawer slide, and means wherebythe drawer slide can be easily removed from the cabinet.

My drawer slide is of novel construction, in which a stationary memberis carried by the cabinet, a member carries the drawer, and a floatingmember is intermediate the first two members. The drawer-carrying membermay be alternatively called the drawer-secured member, to emphasize thefact that it is attached directly to the drawer, with no interveningelements. Said members are provided with appropriate substantiallyhorizontal tracks or runners which complement each other to formball-retaining races. Balls are in the races to ease the relativemovement of the various parts. One of said races is defined by a trackof the cabinet-carrying member and a track of the drawer-carryingmember. One of the balls, which may preferably be larger than theothers, tractionally engages the tracks of the last-mentioned race, andis held captive against movement lengthwise of the floating member bymeans of a hole in the floating member in which said larger ball islocated. The hole may preferably be located about midway of the ends ofthe floating member. Suitable stops may be provided to limit movement ofthe parts relative to each other and to minimize noise.

Thus, when the drawer and the drawer-carrying member are pulled out fromthe cabinet, the captive ball forces the floating member to follow thedrawer-carrying member at a definite fraction of the speed of thelatter.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the invention to provide arigid and substantial drawer slide of novel construction which willadequately support a heavily loaded drawer when the latter has beenpulled out from the cabinet.

12 Claims. (Cl. 3083.8)

It is another object to provide a drawer slide which will operateeasily.

It is a further object to provide a drawer slide which will operate witha minimum of noise.

It is still another object to provide a drawer slide such that thedrawer can be easily removed therefrom, and such that the drawer slidecan be easily removed from the cabinet.

The above and other objects and advantages will appear more clearly fromthe following description, taken together with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a right-hand drawer slide embodying theinvention with the cabinet and the drawer indicated schematically, thedrawer slide being shown in its fully extended position, i. e. with thedrawer pulled out from the cabinet as far as it will go;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the drawer slide of Fig. 1, thecabinet and the drawer being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the drawer slide taken along line 3-3 ofFig. 7, showing also the means for removably mounting the drawer on thedrawer-carrying member;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view partly in section of the drawer slidein its fully retracted position, i. e. with the drawer (not shown)pushed into the cabinet (not shown) Fig. 5 is a sectional view takenalong line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. '6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 1--1 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 99 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line ill-40 of Fig. 3;and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view taken along line lI-Ii of Fig. 7, showingthe shape of the hole in the floating member for holding the enlargedball captive.

Like reference numerals designate like parts in the variou views.

Referring to the drawings. the drawer slide comprises a stationary,cabinet-carried member l0, a movable drawer-carrying member i2, and afloating, intermediate member ll.

The cabinet-carried member III is formed of a body portion l6, andsuitably mounted thereon, as byspot welding, is a channel-like portionII, which is divided into upper and lower horizontal tracks 23 and 22,respectively, concave upward and downward, also respectively. The memberI3 is shown (Fig. l) removably mounted in a cabinet 23 which is shownschematically as having a side .23 and a back 3|. It will be understoodthat the cabinet 23 may be a pedestal of a desk, or may be constitutedby thestationary structure of a conventional filing cabinet having oneor a plurality of drawers, or may be any other drawercarrying enclosure.The illustrated means for removably mounting the cabinet-carried memberI3, as aforesaid, include a pair of tongues 24 near the right-hand endof the member I3. The tongues 24 protrude from the body portion I 6 andextend horizontally toward the back 3| of the cabinet 23. The tongues 24are adapted to engage corresponding recesses in the side 29 of thecabinet 28, near the back thereof. Also included in the mounting meansare a pair of tongues 26 near the left-hand end of the member I3. Thetongues 26 protrude from the body portion I6 and extend verticallydownward therefrom. The tongues 26 are engaged in corresponding recessesin the side 29 of the cabinet 28, near the front thereof.

Thus, to remove the cabinet-carried .member I3 from the cabinet 28, itis only necessary to lift the front or left-hand end of the member I3slightly upward to disengage the tongues 26 from their correspondingrecesses, and then to pull the member I3 out of the cabinet 28.Simultaneously, the tongues 24 will be disengaged from theircorresponding recesses.

To replace the cabinet-carried member I3 in the cabinet 28, the processis repeated in reverse order.

The drawer-carrying member I2 includes a body portion 33 which is formedto provide a horizontal, concave-downward track 32 along its upper edgeand a horizontal, concave-upward track 34 along its lower edge. Suitablymounted, as by spot welding, on the body portion 33 of thedrawer-carrying member I2 is a channel-like portion 36 which is providedwith an intermediate, horizontal, concave-downward track 33. The track33 may preferably extend throughout only a portion of the length of thedrawer-carrying member I2.

Means are provided for removably mounting a drawer 43 (shownschematically in Figs. 1 and 3) on the drawer-carrying member I2. Theillustrated means include, near the rearward or righthand end of thedrawer-carrying member I2, an element 42 (Figs. 1 and 3) which projectsupwardly from the top flange or track 32 of the member I2 and which hasa hook-like portion 43 facing the forward end of the member I2, and ahorizontal slot 44 in the top flange 32 of the member I2 and near theforward or left-hand end thereof. The hook-like portion 43 of theelement 42 is adapted to engage. a corresponding element, as preferablya flange 46 (Fig. 3) carried by the side of the drawer, and acorresponding downwardly extending projection of the drawer may befreely fitted into the slot 44. Said downwardly extending projection maypreferably be a freely-pivoted finger 41 (Fig. 3) arranged to drop intothe slot 44. Thus, to remove the drawer 43 from the member I2, it isonly necessary to lift the drawer 43 carrying the finger 41 from theslot 44 and pull the drawer 43 away from the element I 2. To mount thedrawer 43 on the element I2 it is only necessary to slide the flange 46along the top of the element I2 until the flange 46 engages the portion43. At this point, the finger 41 4 will automatically drop into place inthe slot 44. and the drawer 43 is mounted.

The right-hand end of the cabinet-carried member I3 is bent at rightangles inwardly of the cabinet 23 to provide a flange 33 for abuttingthe drawer-carrying member I2 when the drawer slide is in its fullyretracted position, i. e., with the drawer 43 in the cabinet 23 as faras it will go (Fig. 4). The flange 33 may be provided with a strip ofsuitable material such as leather 36 to deaden the noise resulting fromthe impact of the end of the drawer-carrying member I2 on the flange 33when the drawer 43 is slammed shut.

The intermediate, floating member I4 is of Z-like construction 'and ishorizontally disposed between the cabinet-carried member I3 and thedrawer-carrying member l2. The member I4 is of substantially Z-shapedcross-section (Figs. 7 and 8) and has a horizontal upper track 46 alongthe upper arm of the Z and first and second horizontal lower tracks 43and 63 along the lower arm of the Z. The tracks 43 and 63 are concavedownwardly and upwardly, respectively.

In the diagonal portion of the Z, and at about the longitudinal midpointof the floating member I 4, a hole 62 is provided, the purpose of whichwill appear more clearly below.

It will be appreciated, particularly by referring to Figs. 7 and 8, thatthe construction of the members I3, I2 and I4 provides severalcomplementary sets of tracks or slide runners, which form suitableball-retaining and guiding races.

Thus, starting at the top of Fig. 7 and proceeding downward: a flrstsuch race is formed by the complementary tracks 32 and 46 of the membersI2 and I4, respectively; a second race (preferably larger than any ofthe others) is formed by the complementary tracks 38- and 23 of themembers I2 and I3, respectively; a third race is formed by thecomplementary tracks 22 and 63 of the members I3 and I4, respectively;and a fourth race is formed by the complementary tracks 43 and 34 of themembers I4 and I2, respectively.

Each race is provided with one or more antifriction devices, which maypreferably be balls and which tractionally engage the respective tracksof that race, so that the members I3, I2 and I4 can easily movelengthwise of each other in a progressive telescoping fashion, with aminimum of effort on the part of the operator.

The weight of the members I3, I2 and I4 (together with, or preferablyeven without the weight of the drawer 43) and the tightness of flt ofthe parts are such that substantially no slipping of the balls along thetracks of their respective races can occur.

Thus, in the illustrated drawer slide, a single ball 64 is in the firstrace, tractionally engaging the tracks 32 and 43 thereof. A somewhatlarger diameter propeller ball 63 is in the second race tractionallyengaging the tracks 36 and 23 thereof. The ball 63 is also disposed inthe hole 62 in the diagonal portion of the Z of the floating member I 4.Two balls 63, preferably of the same size as the ball 64, are in thethird race, tractionally engaging the tracks 22 and 63 thereof. Finally,two balls 33, also preferably of the same size as the ball 64, are inthe fourth race. tractionally engaging the tracks 43 and 34 thereof.

By reason of its disposition in the hole 62 in the diagonal portion ofthe Z of the floating member I 4, the propeller ball is held captiveagainst movement lengthwise of the floating member I4, but is free toturn or roll along the tracks 36 and 20. The plane of the hole 52 maypreferably pass through the center of the propeller ball 56.

By referring especially to Fig. 11, it will be appreciated that the hole52 (in the diagonal web portion of the floating member I4) is notexactly round, but is composed of upper and lower arcs 52a of a circle,which is concentric with and of larger diameter than the ball 56. Thearcs 52a are bounded front and back by parallel squaredoif portions 521)which are preferably separated by a distance approximately equal to thediameter of the ball 56. With this arrangement, suitable clearance isprovided between the ball 56 and the top and bottom of the hole 52 sothat the ball 56 can rotate freely, and yet snug engagement between theball 56 and the hole 52 is assured, so that the ball 56 can push themember I4 back and forth without noticeable play or lost motion. Otherconfigurations of the hole 52, such as an ellipse, will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art.

It should now be appreciated that: as the drawer-carrying member I2 ismoved in or out of the cabinet 28, the captive propeller ball 56 isrotated due to its rolling or tractional engagement with its tracks 38and therefore, the central portion of the ball 56 pushes against theside of the hole 52 in the direction of motion of the member I2; andthis pushing impels the .floating member I4 to follow the movement ofthe drawer-carrying member I2, but at a fraction of the speed thereof.Specifically, in the arrangement shown, the floating member I4 travelsback and forth at one-half the speed of the drawer-carrying member I2,so that for any given displacement of the drawer outwardly or inwardlyof the cabinet the floating member or runner I4 is displaced in the samedirection but only one-half as far. In this way the floating runneralways maintains a half-way extended position of support intermediatethe drawercarrying runner I2 and the stationary runner assembly II) inthe cabinet, in substantially exact proportion to the outward extensionof the runner or member I2 and of the drawer 40 which carries thelatter.

The members I2 and I4 are of approximately the same length and arearranged so that when the drawer slide is in its fully retractedposition (Fig. 4) their ends approximately correspond with each other.Thus when the drawer slide is in its fully extended position (Figs. 1-3,5 and 6) the floating member I4 will adequately support thedrawer-carrying member I2 (and indeed a heavily-loaded drawer as well)by reason of its positive supporting engagement of both the member I2and the stationary member I0 over essentially one half of the length ofeach.

Suitable means may be provided to prevent the balls 54, 58 and 66 fromslipping out of their races and to limit their lengthwise travel. Asillustrated, such means may include dimples projecting slightly into thetracks, as at 62, and screws 64. Thus the one ball 54 is confinedbetween the members I2 and I4 toward the forward (left-hand) portion ofthe member I2 by a dimple 62 and a screw 64, both projecting downwardlyfrom the track 32 of the member I2. A dimple 62 in the track 46 at theforward end thereof prevents the ball 54 from spilling out when theslide is in its extended position. One of the two balls 58 is retainedtoward the forward (left-hand) end of the member I4 between the firstand second (from the left) dimples 62 projecting upwardly from the track50 of the member I4. A screw 64 has its head projecting downwardly fromthe track 22 near its forward end to prevent said ball 58 from spillingout of its race when the drawer slide is in its extended position. Theother ball 58 is similarly retained toward the rearward end of themember between the third and fourth dimples 62 projecting upwardly fromthe track 50. One of the two balls 60 is retained toward the forward(left) end of the member I2 between the first and second (from the left)dimples 62 projecting upwardly from the track 34. A dimple 62 projectingdownwardly from the track 48 at the extreme left-hand end thereofprevents said ball 60 from spilling out of its race when the drawerslide is in its extended position. The other ball 60 is similarlyretained toward the rearward end of the member I2 between the third andfourth dimples 62 projecting upwardly from the track 34 As best seen inFig. 10, a rigid block 82 of generally triangular cross-section, isrigidly secured, as by screws 80, to the underside of the diagonal webof the floating member I4, and at the extreme rearward or right-hand endthereof (see Figs. 3 and 4). The underside of the block 82 is designedto bear against the track 26, in sliding relation therewith. The purposeof the block 82 is to provide additional support for the floating memberI4, particularly when the drawer slide is extended. More especially, theblock 82 prevents jamming of the parts and/or spilling out of balls, if,for example, the drawer-carried member I2 is inadvertently subjected toupward pressure. Thus, without the block 82, it would be possible forthe floating member I4 to be pivoted clockwise (as seen in Fig. 3)relative to the cabinet-carried member ID, about an axis passingsubstantially through the ball 56, with the possible result that therearward ball 58 would spill out. The block 82 prevents suchpossibility.

Also, suitable stops may be preferably provided to limit the travel ofthe members I0, I2 and I4 relative to one another. These steps preventthe drawer slide from coming completely apart. One such stop is shownenlarged in Fig. 9, and includes a rigid block 65 secured as by screws68 to the floating member I4 near the left-hand end thereof. Inalignment with the block 66 and secured, as by welding, to the centralportion of the channel-like piece 36 of the drawercarrying member I2 andto the right of the block 66 (as seen in Fig. 9), is a bracket In whichhas a lip II spaced from the body of the piece 36 and which carries apiece of resilient material, such as rubber I2, between the lip II andthe block 66. Thus when the drawer-carrying mem-- ber I2 is moved to theleft, the block 66 and the bracket Ill (and the rubber 12) approach eachother, until they meet. At this point, further similar movement isimpossible.

A similar stop is provided between the floating member I4 and thecabinet-carried member I I). This stop (Fig. 6) includes a rigid block14 carried by the floating member I4 and a bracket I6 mounted upon thecabinet-carried member II) to the left of the block I4. A piece ofresilient material, such as rubber I8, is affixed to the bracket 16 soas to project between the bracket 16 and the block I4, and thus to bestruck by the block at the desired outer limit of movement of thefloating member I4 relative to the stationary runner assembly I0.

The rubber pieces I2 and I8 serve to deaden the noise of impact as thedrawer is opened to its fullest extent.

The various parts may be greased to ease movement, particularly (ifdesired) between the closely adjacent vertical web portions of thefloating member l4 and the members In and I2.

Only a right-hand drawer slide has been illustrated, it being understoodthat a similar lefthand slide will be applied to the other side of thedrawer.

In operation, when the drawer lli is opened, and the drawer-carryingmember I2 is pulled out, the propeller ball 56 pushes the floatingmember l4 outward at half the speed of the member I2, thus providingnecessary support for the drawercarrying member I! and the drawer 40itself. This operation can be continued, the parts rolling on the balls54, 58. i8 and ill, until further movement is prevented by theintervention of the stops. When the drawer 40 is pushed back into thecabinet 28, the process is repeated, but in reverse order.

The invention thus represents a notably effective and smooth-operatingslide suspension for a drawer, such as a file drawer in a desk, filingcabinet or the like. In particular, the illustrated arrangement oftracks and resulting ball races affords a secure support for the drawerat all positions, satisfactorily balanced against undue or localizedstrains, yet at the same time constituted of essentially simple parts,which may be fashioned of heavy sheet material (e. g. steel) in aneconomical manner. An especially important feature of the inventionresides in the structure and arrangement of the floating member I, withregard to its engagement of the central, translating ball 56, and alsoits cooperative relation in providing guide tracks with both of theother slide runner members, i. e. two ball tracks for one of the membersand one for the other.

Specifically, the central, diagonal web portion of the member I4 isadvantageous in achieving full engagement with the central ball 56, i.e. in a direct equatorial relation to the ball, while avoiding anyinterference with the cooperating tracks (of the other members) betweenwhich the ball rolls. Thus as shown in Fig. 7, there are no parts of thefloating member at the horizontal sides or at the top or bottom of theball. The ball may therefore have a relatively large dimension; yet thediagonal web arrangement I permits the floating member to be arelatively narrow structure, 1. e. in a direction between the body partsof the members Ill and I2, and at the same time to have good equatorialengagement with the ball. In other words, the proportional displacementfunction of the ball 58 is made more effective, and slippage or otherdifllculty is fully obviated or minimized, by utilizing a relativelylarge ball, while the assembly need not be correspondingly cumbersome oroccupy undue space at the sides of the drawer. The diagonal arrangementof the central web portion of the floating member also contributesmaterially to the strength and rigidity of this part, for example byavoiding right-angle bends at central regions (i. e. along central lineslongitudinally of the member) which without reinforcement might impairthe vertical rigidity,

Furthermore, the arrangement of the oppositely extending, integral,upper and lower flanges (l6 and 48-40) at the top and bottom edges ofthe floating member is particularly convenient, i. e. in that theirdisposition likewise 8 avoids impairment of the overall structuralrigidity, while at the same time they may be eifectively shaped toprovide the desired multiplicity of tracks. i. e. one at the top and twoat the bottom (the latter two by a single flange) for mutual supportbetween the floating member and the drawer and stationary members,respectively.

While I have described my invention as embodied in concrete form inaccordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, it should beunderstood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since variouschanges and modifications may be made without departing from the scopeof the invention as deflned by the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet and the like, comprising: acabinet-carried member including an upwardly-facing track; a floatingmember including upper and lower tracks; a drawer-secured memberincluding upper and lower tracks forming ball races with the upper andlower tracks of said floating member, respectively, and an intermediate,downwardlyfacing track forming a central ball race with the upper trackof said cabinet-carried member; balls in-all said races, including aball in said central race; means integral with said floating member andspanning said ball in said central race to hold said ball captiveagainst movement lengthwise of said floating member, so that said ballin said central race will propel said floating member in the directionof movement of said drawer-secured member at a fraction of the speedthereof.

2. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet and the like, comprising: acabinet-carried member including an upper track and a lower track; afloating member including an upper. track and a lower track, a centralportion connecting said last-mentioned tracks and a hole in said centralportion; a drawer-secured member including upper and lower trackscomplementing respectively, the upper and lower tracks of said floatingmember and forming therewith flrst and second ball races, and anintermediate track complementing the upper track of said cabinet-carriedmember and forming therewith a central ball race; balls in said flrstand second races; a ball tractionally engaging the tracks of saidcentral race and held captive against movement lengthwise of saidfloating member by reason of being in said hole and being adapted topropel said floating member in the direction of movement of saiddrawer-secured member at a fraction of the speed thereof.

3. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet and the like, comprising: acabinet-carried member including an upper track and a lower track,concave upward and downward respectively; a floating member ofsubstantially Z-shaped crosssection and including an upper track concaveupward along the upper arm of said 2 and first and second lower tracksalong the lower arm of said 2 and concave downward and upwardrespectively, said second track complementing the lower track of saidcabinet-carried member and forming a flrst ball race, and a holesubstantially midway of the ends of said floating member and in thediagonal portion of said 2; a drawersecured member including upper andlower tracks complementing, respectively, the upper track and the firstlower track of said floating member and forming second and third ballraces, and further including an intermediate downwardly concave balltrack complementing the upper ball track of said cabinet-carried memberand forming therewith a central ball race; a captive ball in said holeand tractionally engaging the upper track of said cabinet-carried memberon one side and the intermediate ball track of said drawer-securedmember on the other side; and further balls in said first, second andthird races.

4. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein a first stop is providedbetween said drawer-secured member and said floating member to limit themaximum distance to which said drawer-secured member can be separatedfrom said floating member, and a second stop is provided between saidfloating member and said cabinet-carried member to limit the maximumdistance to which said floating member can be separated from saidcabinet-carried member, each said stop including a rigid block and abracket.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4 wherein a piece of resilient,sound-deadening material is inserted between said block and saidbracket.

6. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet or the like, comprisingcabinet-carried and drawer- -secured members respectively havingelongated said cabinet-carried member and slidably supporting saiddrawer-secured member, said floating member having a web portionextending diagonally between the members intermediate the ball, forengagement by the ball to displace the floating member by rolling travelof the ball when one of the first-mentioned members is moved lengthwiseof the other.

'7. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet or the like, comprisingcabinet-carried and drawersecured members respectively having elongatedtracks complementarily facing each other and mutually spaced toconstitute a race for a rolling member, a rolling member in said race inrolling engagement with the tracks, and an elongated floating memberdisposed in longitudinally sliding relation between the first-mentionedmembers for support of one by the other, said floating member comprisingan elongated, vertically extending, plate-like structure including a webportion extending lengthwise of the floating member and diagonallybetween the first-mentioned members at a locality diagonally crossingthe space between the tracks, said diagonal web portion including anopening around the rolling member, for engagement of the floating memberby said rolling member to displace the floating member in predeterminedproportion to lengthwise displacements of the drawer-secured memberrelative to the cabinet-carried member.

8. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet or the like, comprisingcabinet-carried and drawersecured members respectively having elongated,mutually spaced, complementary tracks to constitute a race for a rollingmember, a rolling member in said race in rolling engagement with thetracks, and an elongated, vertically extending, plate-like floatingmember disposed intermediate the flrst-mentioned members and including acentral, diagonal web portion extending lengthwise of said floatingmember and having an opening around the rolling member for operativeengagement by the latter, said floating member having oppositelyextending flanges at its upper and lower longitudinal edges, toconstitute runner tracks, and cooperating flanges projecting from thefirst-mentioned members to constitute tracks cooperating with the saidtracks of the floating member, for sliding support of the drawer-securedmember on the floating member and of the floating member on thecabinetcarried member.

9. A drawer slide as described in claim 8, wherein one of the edgeflanges of the floating member is shaped to constitute a ball track, thecooperating track of one of the other members complementarilyconstituting a ball track for provision of a ball race therewith, theother flange of the floating member being shaped to provide twolaterally adjacent, oppositely facing ball tracks, and thecabinet-carried and drawersecured members respectively having trackscomplementarily cooperating with said last-mentioned ball tracks toconstitute ball races therewith.

10. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet or the like, comprisingcabinet-carried and drawer-secured members respectively having elongatedtracks complementarily facing each other and vertically spaced toconstitute a ball race between the members, a ball in said race inrolling engagement with the tracks, and an elongated, verticallyextending, plate-like floating member longitudinally disposed betweenthe first-mentioned members, said floating member including a diagonalweb portion integrally extending throughout the length thereof anddiagonally traversing the space between the aforesaid tracks, saiddiagonal web portion having an opening equatorially surrounding the ballintermediate the tracks, for engagement of the ball with the diagonalweb portion to displace the floating member in predetermined portion tomutual longitudinal displacement of the first-mentioned members as theball rolls between the tracks, said floating member being arranged forsliding support of the drawer-secured member and for sliding support bythe cabinet-carried member.

11. A drawer slide as described in claim 10 wherein the plate-likefloating member includes integral, substantially horizontal,longitudinal flanges along its upper and lower edges, respectivelyextending above and below the diagonal web portion to provide asubstantially Z-shaped section for the floating member, the upper flangeportion being curved to constitute a longitudinal ball track, the lowerflange portion being shaped in laterally adjoining, oppositelyvertically facing concave curves to constitute oppositely facing balltracks, said cabinet-carried member having upper and lower ball tracksprojecting therefrom, respectively in vertically spaced relation to theupper ball track of the floating member and. one of the lower balltracks thereof, to provide ball races therewith, and the cabinet-carriedmember having a ball track complementarily disposed in vertically spacedrelation to the other ball track of the lower flange of the floatingmember, to constitute a ball race therewith, said slide including ballsin said races between the floating member and the cabinet-carried anddrawersecured members for the aforesaid sliding support of thedrawer-secured member on the floating member and of the floating memberon the cabinet-carried member.

12. A drawer slide for a drawer in a cabinet and the like, as defined inclaim 6, in which said 11 hole has a diameter in the direction of motionof the ball only slightly greater than the ball diameter to form asliding flt therewith, so that the floating member moves longitudinallyconcurrently with the ball substantially without lost motion, said holealso having a. diameter in a direction transverse to the ball motionsubstantially greater than the ball diameter so that said web portiontransmits no vertically acting force to said ball.

PAUL VIGNOB.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number5 2,162,318 2,336,433 2.346.167 2,559,322

Name a Date Bchmitz June 13, 1939 Woina Dec. 7, 1943 Jones et al Apr.11, 1944 Skamser July 3, 1951

